Fate
by Shinzoku
Summary: She is the Queen of the Land, and he is but a regular Lairon out on a quest to gather spring water. She is cruel and heartless, he is gentle and caring. Anton never expected to befriend someone as lovely as her.


Ash rained down from the sky like sheets of black snow. He rubbed his finger along a smooth rock and rubbed the residue between his finger and his thumb, his brow furrowed. From the bottom of the mountain, there had been no ash nor heat that threatened to melt the metal right off his back. The higher he had climbed, however, the more fatigued he had grown; ash was not good for him, he supposed, or it was simply too hot for a Steel Type like him. His metal would melt, but he was as immortal as the gods above, which happened to test his confidence. Perhaps the only thing he would not test was jumping into the searing hot pit of lava that curved like a wobbly crescent, with him standing in the middle of it beside a pointed rock.

He kicked a pebble off the ground and watched as it sailed into the pit, melting and burning away instantly. Grinning, he reached down and picked up a handful, throwing them all in at once. They hissed and disappeared, but not before his fun was cut short by a tall lady on the other side clearing her throat and crossing her arms. He seemed to light up, loving the spikes on her vest and the glowing markings on her red clothes, but the scowl on her face was something more along the lines of her not wanting him there. She stepped into the pit as if there were steps leading down and she walked across, slow as if in water, with her head and shoulders above the lava. He took a step back against the rock when she neared. Ash rained down into his eye and stained his hair, it even caught and piled up in the crease where his head met the rock.

Each step she took was another shake of the ground. He grinned nervously and bit his bottom lip, threatening to draw blood from his sharp teeth against such soft skin. This new lady had her arms crossed, but unhooked one and pointed at him, jabbing his straight in the chest.

"What the hell are you doing up here."

He swallowed. "I uh...w-well you see, ma'am, this is a mountain close to my village!" He grinned. He tried to stare her straight in the eyes, but the gold on black was as terrifying as the red on black eyes he once saw deep in the shadows late at night. They were also rather pretty, like gold. "I was told that somewhere up here is some spring water, and I really love spring water. Keeps the metal on my back in pristine order!"

She looked unimpressed and took a step back, looking him up and down, and returning her arm back to its crossed position. "Seems to have kept you real fat, too, kid. What are you? A Lairon? Tch. Figures, you're all damn addicted to that shit. I'm not sure how someone as fat as you managed to get up here, but why don't you scurry on down?" With a frown and half closed eyes, she brushed ash off her shoulder and began to turn away. "Get out of my sight, I don't want to see you."

"Okay." He shrugged, but he tried to smooth down his shirt. He had not noticed his weight before. Was it a bad thing? "You're really pretty by the way! Do you eat a lot of minerals?"

"Yeah, I guess. Go get out of here. There's no spring water up here, your friends were lying."

Smiling, he turned around and sauntered toward the path he had created that morning to reach the top. He felt a pair of eyes follow him down, but he did not turn nor did he acknowledge it. All his thought process now was getting back down the mountain and returning to his home, where he had a small and cool spring in his backyard he could harvest his water from.

His boots pounded small imprints in the ash that followed him down the mountain. It was much easier going down than it was up, and he almost broke into a sprint in eagerness to get back to his village and greet his friends. However, when he stopped for a short break under a small tree, flopping down into its shade, he felt that strange feeling of eyes watching him and began to tense up. Surely it was only the pretty lady, but why was she coming down? He brushed as much ash out of his hair as he could and went to stand up.

"I'm going as fast as I can, please forgive me," he said, grimacing slightly, lips pulled back in a terrible looking frown. He gestured a lot, almost smacked her in the face, and backed up a bit. "I'm sorry, oh gosh. If you want me down even sooner I can go running! Running will do me good, yeah? shouldn't be fat..."

"No, no my brother was the same way before we were released from our bindings." She brushed hair out of her face, squared her shoulders. "You're one of the only people to have left without a fight, usually I'm throwing your evolution line off the mountain every other day. You can take this, okay?" She reached into her back pocket and a small jar sprung to its full size in her hands. It was at least a gallon, weighing almost nothing to the man as he took it in his arms. "Come by every so often and maybe I'll give you more?"

Suddenly his whole face lit up. "Thank you!" he said. "I really appreciate it! Do you want to come down with me?"

She shook her head, crossing one leg over the other, one arm propped up against the tree. Her ponytail swung around and rested lightly on her shoulder. He wanted to reach out and touch it, but refrained. "I'm afraid I can't," she began. "I'm a Legendary, you see? I have to protect the land here from my brother; he's threatening to completely wash the area away, most of the world IS land, you know? He doesn't like it, and I'm waiting for my assistant to get back from her rounds."

"Oh I see. You must be...Kyogre then?"

Her nostrils flared and she balled her fists. The ground began to shake, but she took a deep breath to calm herself and stood up. "That's my brother. I am Groudon, Queen of the Land."

"I'm Anton! You're really pretty, you know that? You must be able to create all the minerals then! Is that why everyone says your spring water is so good?"

"Yup," she said with a smirk. "I make water better than my brother, King of the Ocean. Trust me, all the shit he spits out is saltier than a salt shaker. But go on now, I'm busy."

"Do you need help?"

"Nonsense. My work would kill you."

He grinned, squeezing the jar close to his chest. If he was not careful however, he would break it, and so he released the grip and set it on the ground, holding his hands behind his back. "Lady Groudon, I am not a regular mortal."

"What, stronger than most? More mature than most? A nice guy?"

"I am immortal."

Groudon jerked back in surprise, sizing him up again. "What? You've gotta be fucking kidding me! Immortal? How? How old are you?"

"I am three hundred and twenty four years old, ma'am. I...I was the one who released Regigigas and his family, and was cursed by a Ninetales. I...am not quite sure what else happened then, but Regigigas took me in for a while and cared for me until I got used to it." His smile was wide and dazzling, his horns glinting in the sunlight that peered through a gap in a cloud of ash. Slowly an understanding look appeared on her face, but she still looked irritated, frustrated even, that he could ever have been immortal in the first place. "I'm sorry if this upsets you, I really am. I've upset many such gods before. You guys...are so unique. And I am not. There are thousands of Lairon like me. But I've said enough, oh no. I need to get going! Thank you for the water!"

As he turned to walk down the mountain again, Groudon waved and him and said goodbye. She went her own way and disappeared in a cloud of ash. He could not help but smile, though. She was really nice, even if all the people he knew talked about her in a bad light. She was so nice this meeting, even if...

"Hey! Wait Groudon. Am I...am I really that fat?"

"Anton! You are not, don't worry about it. I'm sure it'll turn into muscle when you evolve, don't woooorry."

He smiled. "Good, good. I don't want to be fat if others don't like it."

"Don't listen to others."

"Oh I don't care about myself. I just want _them_ to be happy! I don't want my presence to make them unhappy. Goodbye, Groudon."

For a brief moment he stopped by the tree to pick up his water again and sauntered down the mountain, taking sips of it every so often.

* * *

Shinzu: I've got like 3 chapters already backlogged don't think this is gonna stop soon. This is set in my fictional Pokemon universe, where they are all human or 'gijinka'. It is also the same world Only Learn takes place in, though over the past few years and with the help of friends I have made it even better! Yes that one will be rewritten soon. But for now, have this.


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